Category Archives: Health

It’s a sad fact that most Australians are dangerously under-insured. And It may just be high time you reviewed your levels of insurance protection!

Take the example of Matt. He is a clean-living 53-year-old who exercises regularly, doesn’t smoke, enjoys a healthy diet and only indulges his love of good wine at the weekend.

Yet things changed suddenly for Matt last year when he awoke one night to find he couldn’t breathe. His wife called for an ambulance and he was rushed to hospital, where he was taken into life-saving surgery following a heart attack.

After waking from his operation, Matt was in shock. He knew there was a family history of heart disease, but had gone to great lengths to prevent the onset of the illness and had definitely not properly thought through how his family would cope without him.

During recovery, Matt reviewed the insurance component of his super and discovered that in the event of his death his family would receive just $300,000, which would barely pay off the mortgage. He hadn’t taken into account daily living expenses, car loans, and his daughters’ school fees, his wife’s low income or their inadequate savings.

Fortunately for Matt, his story is a positive one. Now in better health and back at work, he has spoken to a financial adviser and taken out additional life insurance, albeit at a significant premium following the heart attack. He and his adviser are looking into critical illness cover, which would pay out a lump sum should he suffer another sudden illness, although he’s likely to now have a coronary exclusion.

Unfortunately, in Australia, Matt’s story is not uncommon. Surveys have shown Australia has much lower levels of insurance than other developed nations including the United States and United Kingdom [1]. The required level of life insurance is now about $680,000, while the typical default cover is around $258,000 – a significant gap [2].

Maybe it’s time to ask… could your family make ends meet if you were unable to work, suffered a serious illness or died? Here are some things you should consider:

Make an appointment with your financial adviser to discuss your insurance needs and ensure you are adequately covered, or call the team at Wealth Planning Partners to discuss your needs on 07 5593 0855. They help clients Australia wide with their protection strategies.

If you’re like me and a bit of a tragic Princess Bride fan, then you’ll be completely familiar with this line, and that some days it rings more true than others.

Lately, it seems the ‘life is pain’ is ringing true a lot more. I’ve had a mate I love dearly be fitted with a pacemaker and become a double amputee. His lovey sister has just married the love of her life, who’s been diagnosed with a terminal cancerous mass in his pancreas and one of the most beautiful, bright amazing women in my circle of friends committed suicide last week. Yes… sometimes life is truly pain.

Today I raised a glass to my girlfriend and spent it with another, remembering her son who died suddenly 11 years ago today.

And it got me thinking, as these times often call for deep personal reflection… Yes, Life is pain, we’ve all been there. There’s bad minutes, horrid hours, bloody awful days and some really shit moments that make up this tapestry we call life.

But there’s also the beauty. Sometimes in the darkness, that’s hard to remember. There’s the unexpected opera in the morning in the hotel I’m staying in that transports me and gives me goosebumps, there’s sunsets to be seen in places I’ve never been, unexpected connections with friends and colleagues and there’s new friends to be made and children to watch grow.

We’ve all suffered unrequited love, difficult emotions and the roller-coaster rides of feelings. Yet, we’ve also had magical moments in time with friends and lovers and our babies and experienced the beauty of the written word, spoken word and of music, friendship, nature, laughter and tears.

But when someone takes their life, we all think… could I have done more? Should I have called? What else could I have done? So instead of wondering, I beg you, call someone today. I’m sure you know someone who could use a chat, a laugh a cry or the gift of your time.

As most women already know, there’s lots to juggle all at once. There’s our partner’s needs, the kids, maintaining the home and household, extended family, friends and fitting in the ‘me’ time. And whilst some of this can be outsourced, in practice, it’s not always possible.

Which in turn, raises two major issues in life that need facing: Heath and Wealth. If you’re healthy, efforts can be made to invest wisely. If you’re unwell, here’s hoping you have adequate strategies in place.

Stress tends to pressure the adrenals into working overtime, producing cortisol and adrenalin. That’s great if you’re trying to fight a huge spider, but on an ongoing basis, doesn’t do wonders for the internal organs. Side effects can include high blood pressure which in turn raises other health risks. The scary stats are that women have a 55% prevalence of cardiovascular disease (men 45%) and 5% burden of stroke (men 4%) and two thirds of all heart failure sufferers are female. (Australia’s Health 2008)

And most women deal with stress by smoking and/or drinking. Both of which also cause an increase in likelihood of cancer and organ damage. Drug use is on the rise and it’s also difficult to maintain a great diet when eating on the run or at erratic hours, and reaching for the comfort food or fast food.

Many women over 55 now have higher cholesterol than men and a greater incidence of diabetes mellitus. Women also choose to put off child bearing to a later age, and unfortunately this in turn can lead to increased complications!

Who’d be a working woman??

Or the better question is… how can we reduce some of the stress?? Well, the top tips will come as no surprise, and take a little planning.

1. Ensure the diet is improved – even just increasing the fruit and veg and water intake can help.

2. Quit smoking. You know why!

3. Decrease the amount of alcohol taken. I’m up for a glass of bubbles as much as the next girl, but do ensure there’s a couple of alcohol free days each week.

4. Time Management. Take a look-see at each day and see if there isn’t just a better way of getting things done. Can you delegate some tasks? Rearrange others? Have someone help out with the kids each week. Meal clubs and car pools can work wonders to free up time.

And for your own sake, please consider: Life Insurance, Total & Permanent Disablement Cover, Trauma Protection and Disability Income Cover.

With such hugely active lifestyles now and associated risk factors, it’s vital that working girls have the products to provide an income stream or ability to pay down debts in the event of the unexpected.